An independent probe into the May 19 incident in Wiscasset Middle High School’s gym was a no-go June 9. But a "two schools beneath one roof" committee is on. School Committee Vice Chair Jonathan Barnes proposed the outside probe into the incident and Brycson Grover, in his last scheduled meeting as a member, supported it. Chair Tracey Whitney and members Christopher Hart and Doug Merrill abstained. That proposal to hire an independent investigator needed a majority vote to pass.

Barnes made the proposal after an executive, or closed door, session on last month's incident where senior D'Antae Dawkins, 18, allegedly committed aggravated assault against an eighth grader.

Asked why she abstained, Whitney told Wiscasset Newspaper June 10: "I feel that if we have an independent investigation, I may end up being involved as the board chair. So I felt that I should abstain from the vote."

To the same question, Hart said: "I saw no reason to prevent an independent investigation, nor did I see the value of expending resources to review a set of facts that have been thoroughly established. Caught between these opposing sentiments, I chose to abstain."

Merrill did not immediately respond to an emailed question. In the meeting, Merrill said of the proposal, "I just don't see what that'll accomplish." He went on to ask the cost. It would cost less than lawsuits, Barnes said.

It would not necessarily preclude any lawsuits, Hart said. Barnes said it would preclude ones that stem from the committee's not getting the independent investigation. 

"It'll be transparency, that the public's going to believe in," Barnes said at another point. "They don't believe in us ... An independent investigator can come here, lay out all the facts ..."

Said Grover, "It shows good faith that we're trying to do something here. We know that there was an incident. And I just think it needs to be handled at a different level."

Merrill responded, "I guess it'll just end up being a timeline like I already have (but) with a different name attached to it ... We have a video ..."

"It wouldn't be a timeline, it'd be a full investigation," Barnes said.

Merrill said it didn't bother him if the committee wanted to do it, and if it would "ease public concerns. Got to build trust somehow." But when Barnes asked for any cons besides costs, Merrill said, "I just don't see where it takes us ...  forward."

"It is not forward-looking," Hart agreed.

"Can't move forward if we don't address the present," Barnes said.

The proposal came near the end of a five-hour committee meeting that included two public comment sections yielding more comments of concern about school safety; talk also included Barnes' raising or reiterating issues over Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kim Andersson's tenure including a prior school committee's hiring her and the firing of WMHS Principal Gina Stevens.  

The committee, not Andersson, fired Stevens, Desiree Bailey countered. She was on the committee then and maintained some of the information Barnes had just aired was wrong. Some of Bailey's comments drew audience callouts. Whitney reminded people they had their turn and this was Bailey's. Barnes supported Bailey's right to say what she chose to. 

Scott James read a statement from wife Ashley James. They have identified their son Gavin James, 14, as the victim in the incident with which Dawkins is charged. As read to the committee, Ashley James wrote she was "done being handed timelines instead of answers and ... reading carefully worded reports that seem more focused on protecting the district than acknowledging what happened to my son."

The statement said departing Principal Sarah Hubert is the only administrator who has shown them genuine empathy. And it called for accountability. "My son is a great student, a great athlete, a great friend, and a great kid. It breaks my heart that he now has to enter high school carrying the weight of something that never should have happened."

Saying the school committee's responsibility is to protect students, the statement asked: "What are you going to do about it?"

As for the "two schools beneath one roof" committee, Andersson proposed it and the school committee nodded it 5-0. As explained in the meeting and in Andersson's superintendent's report, the committee will start July 1, be led by new WMHS Principal Chris Hennessey and will examine issues with shared spaces and times when middle and high schoolers are together, including band, theater and sometimes athletics. 

Plans call for the committee to have teachers, parents, administration and representation from the school committee, and make a recommendation to the school committee.

Andersson said about last month's incident and her investigation  into it, "What I saw was ... an atmosphere where nobody reacted as if something were amiss." Among things she has learned, high school students have, all year, been teacher's aides in middle school classrooms, she said.

Andersson is seeking from Maine Department of Education a site assessment for building management and safety protocols for WMHS and Wiscasset Elementary School. She expects the assessment to look at how "we manage the building, how students and staff move around, and where there are weak areas."

Said Merrill, "What happened on the 19th is because procedure wasn't followed. Have all the procedures you want but they have to be enforced."

At the meeting's close, Barnes thanked Grover for serving. The committee appointed Grover after Victoria Hugo-Vidal resigned due to no longer being a resident.

"I think you did an excellent job, and I encourage you to run again," Barnes told Grover, who was not on the June 9 town ballot. John Merry got the seat over Danielle Clarke.

Also June 9, the committee nodded, with regrets, Andrea Lovell's retirement as special education director and the resignation of Wiscasset Elementary School nurse Alaechia Ellis. The committee nodded the hires of Hennessey (see separate story); Morgan Johnson, WMHS math teacher; Michaela Cost, Pre-K special education teacher; Emily Dobson, WMHS art teacher; Erik Johnson, facility and maintenance director; Amelia C. Armstrong, WES resource room teacher; and Tyler Hilchey, WMHS resource room teacher.

Andersson announced, a sign reading "Jeff Speed Field" will go under the scoreboard at the soccer field. She said the school committee in 2020, when Terry Wood was superintendent, agreed to name the upper athletic field for the then-head custodian, who was retiring after 46 years of service. Andersson said a planned plaque never went up and the sign will. A ceremony will also be held in the fall, she said. Then she and Bailey, who was on the committee then, unveiled the sign to applause from around the room and a standing ovation from the current school committee.

Speed is still serving, driving a school bus to sports events, Andersson noted.